Longest flight ever. The longest non-stop flights: instructions for use

Emirates Airlines recently set a record for longest flight duration when it announced a direct flight between Dubai and Panama that will last a whopping 17 hours and 35 minutes. The flight, which will be launched on February 1, 2016, will shift the current leader - the flight of Qantas Airlines - to second place.

between Dallas and Sydney with a total flight time of just under 16 hours.

In light of this news, travel experts at KAYAK.ru have compiled a list of the longest nonstop flights from Europe and the Asia-Pacific region and shared tips on how to prepare for the long flight.

It takes a lot of time to transport passengers to the most remote corners of the globe in the most convenient way, that is, by plane. Today, the longest flight in the world is operated by Qantas from Sydney to Dallas, and the longest flight from Europe belongs to AirFrance with the route Paris - Santiago de Chile, travel time - 14 hours 40 minutes. The flight to Santiago is also the longest for passengers traveling from Madrid on Iberia. The flight takes 13 hours 30 minutes, which is 1 hour less than the flight from Paris.

Alitalia operates the longest non-stop flight for Italian travellers, from Rome to Buenos Aires in 13 hours 55 minutes, just 5 minutes shorter than Lufthansa's 14 hour flight from Frankfurt on the same route. British airline British Airways also flies to the Argentine capital: its planes cover a distance of 11,136 km in 13 hours 45 minutes.

Now South America is one of the favorite destinations among Europeans. However, from Russia and Poland, the longest flights are made in the direction of the United States of America. The constant development of aircraft technology in the future will allow travelers from all over the world to conquer more and more remote places on our planet.

If you have a long flight from one end of the world to the other, you will be faced with long hours in the air, which cannot be avoided even during non-stop flights, but need to be filled with something. To help travelers survive a flight that lasts almost an entire daylight hours, KAYAK.ru experts have prepared a list of useful tips and life hacks.

Choose your flight time wisely: If you usually have trouble sleeping on a plane, book a day flight. This way you can go to bed when you arrive and avoid a sleepless night.

Choose your seat on the plane in advance: Check in for your flight on time to be able to choose the most comfortable seat in the cabin. In most cases, online check-in opens 24 hours before departure, so set a reminder on your phone and book your seat as quickly as possible. If the flight is short, perhaps seat on the plane does not matter so much, but on long flights, an uncomfortable seat can cause a lot of inconvenience. For example, you probably won't want to sit sandwiched between two other passengers or in the aisle next to the toilet, making it impossible to fall asleep.

Take everything you need with you: Before a long flight, be sure to think about what you will wear. Clothing should be, above all, comfortable. Use the principle of multi-layering so that you can take off or, conversely, put on something at any time, depending on the temperature in the cabin. Take with you everything that will help you relax and fall asleep: a sleep mask, earplugs/soundproofing headphones, a scarf and an inflatable pillow. It's also handy to have a toothbrush, comb, and deodorant on hand to help you feel fresh during and after your flight.

Think of something to do during the flight: To prevent the movie collection on board from becoming your only entertainment during the flight, take an interesting book from home with you, download your favorite music, films and TV series. Take what you like to do in your free time - you'll see, long hours in the air will fly by.

January 11, 1935 American pilot Amelia Earhart committed a single flight across the Pacific Ocean, which no one in the world had ever managed before. This was the peak of the career of the brave American, her most impressive achievement, which transferred Earhart to the category of legends. And today we will tell you about ten of the most iconic and famous air records throughout the history of aviation.

The history of aviation records is unthinkable without the achievements achieved by the Wright brothers on December 17, 1903. On this day, they made the world's first four flights on the Wright Flyer, each of which was a record in terms of range and duration compared to the previous ones. As a result, we settled on 260 meters and 59 seconds.

On May 20-21, 1927, American pilot Charles Lindbergh made a flight that remains the most famous in the history of world aviation. He took off from New York on a plane with the poetic name “Spirit of St. Louis”, and 33.5 hours later landed at Le Bourget Airport near Paris. This was the first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean.

The next aviation record of this magnitude was set only in 1935 by Amelia Earhart. The brave American, in her Vega 5b aircraft, was the first in the world to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean, starting from Hawaii and landing 18 hours and 16 minutes later in Oakland, California. On July 2, 1937, Earhart died while trying to fly an airplane around the globe.

At that time, the Soviet Union had its own star pilot, very comparable in popularity to the Americans Lindbergh and Earhart. We are talking about Valery Chkalov, who on June 18-20, 1937, as part of the Chkalov-Baidukov-Belyakov crew, made a transcontinental flight from Moscow to the American city of Portland, Vancouver, flying through the Arctic Ocean and the North Pole.

On January 16-18, 1957, three American B-52B heavy bombers made the world's first non-stop flight around the world. During the flight, they refueled three times from a refueling aircraft. In 45 hours and 19 minutes, these stratospheric fortresses (as their nickname Stratofortress is translated into Russian) covered a distance of 39,165 kilometers by air.

Sometimes the fact of setting a new record becomes a record in itself. For example, a similar thing happened on March 22, 1989 with an airplane, which during a 3.5-hour flight immediately set 110 new world achievements, such as maximum cargo weight, maximum take-off weight, as well as speed, altitude and flight range records for aircraft of this type. type.

Bertrand Piccard was born into a great family. His grandfather Auguste and father Jacques became famous for their famous submersible dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench; many of his relatives are famous conquerors of the air and stratosphere. And Bertrand himself did not make a mistake. In 1999, he and Briton Brian Jones made the first ever circumnavigation of the world in a hot air balloon. In 19 days, 21 hours and 47 minutes, they covered a distance of 45,755 kilometers on the Breitling Orbiter 3.

On October 4, 2004, American pilot Brian Binney made the highest flight in aviation history on SpaceShipOne. He raised his aircraft to a height of just over 112 kilometers above the Earth's surface, thereby breaking the boundary between the atmosphere and space.

Longest flight by plane

The time has come for new aviation records. Classic aircraft, of course, continue to develop, but aircraft with alternative energy sources are much more promising and interesting. The first such famous aircraft was the Solar Impulse, on which Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg flew from the west coast of the United States of America to the east, from San Francisco to New York in May-June 2013. In the future, they plan to cross the Atlantic on Solar Impulse, and then travel around the world.

From October 11, Singapore Airlines will open regular flights on the route Singapore - New York. This will be the longest commercial line in the world at the moment. The flights will be operated by Airbus aircraft, and the journey will take almost 19 hours. “360” learned from the pilots how safe such a long flight is.

Asian carrier Singapore Airlines is launching direct flights from Singapore to New York starting today. They will be carried out by Airbus A350 aircraft of the updated Ultra Long Range modification. One such airliner is capable of carrying 161 passengers, including 67 business class seats. In addition to them, there will be an expanded crew on board: two pilots and 13 stewards.

It will be the longest non-stop commercial flight in the world - its length will be 16,700 kilometers, which is slightly less than half the equator. In this case, passengers will remain in the air for 18 hours and 50 minutes.

According to the airline, the plane is equipped with all the amenities for a comfortable long flight. The cabin features high ceilings, sophisticated LED lighting, near-vertical side walls and low noise levels. A video library of over a thousand films is also available.

The price of the air ticket, in addition to three meals a day, includes a free Internet package of 30 megabytes. Those who need more traffic can increase it for $28 (1,855 rubles).

“Singapore Airlines always prides itself on breaking boundaries to provide the best travel experience for our customers. We are pleased to maintain our leadership with new direct flights using the latest technologies,” said the head of the airline, Gou Chun Fong, during the presentation of the new flight route.

According to the former commander of the aircraft, Alexander Romanov, flights from Singapore Airlines will meet all safety standards.

“Airbuses are considered reliable cars, and if they are reinforced with additional tanks, they can easily fly for 18 hours or more without refueling,” noted the 360 ​​interlocutor.

At the same time, such flights will be in demand among demanding customers. “Practice shows that it is much easier for passengers to endure long periods of time in the air than to make transfers, so the new direction has every chance of success,” Romanov noted.

Aviation expert Evgeny Sologubov also agrees with the ex-pilot. In his opinion, Airbus is an absolutely safe aircraft. “The Airbus A350 is currently the most modern twin-engine airliner in the world. It operates flights under ETOPS rules, which allow long-range flights with two engines. In particular, it has a built-in minute-by-minute emergency landing system, which allows for the safest possible piloting,” noted the “360” interlocutor.

At the same time, direct flights to New York will bring economic benefits to Singapore Airlines. “People fly from New York to Singapore quite a lot, at least as I see from work in Moscow. They often fly from New York to Moscow and then board a flight to Singapore. Therefore, non-stop flights will be in demand,” Evgeniy Sologubov is sure.

Almost a day in the air

Photo source: Pixabay

Currently, the longest flight in the world is Qatar Airways' flight between Doha and Auckland, New Zealand. The passenger flies non-stop for about 16 and a half hours and during this time covers more than 14.5 thousand kilometers.

The flight is carried out by a Boeing 777−200LR wide-body passenger airliner, specially designed for long-haul flights. The world's largest twin-engine turbofan passenger aircraft is powered by the most powerful General Electric GE90 jet engines in aviation history.

Since 2016, no less long commercial flights have been launched by the eternal competitor of the Qataris, the Dubai airline Emirates. The carrier has launched a non-stop flight on the Dubai - Auckland route, which lasts 16 hours in the eastern direction and 17 hours 15 minutes in the western direction.

However, formally the leader in long-distance non-stop flights can be considered the flight from Hong Kong to London, first performed on a Boeing 777-200 aircraft in 2005. The flight length was then 21,602 kilometers, and the travel time was 22 hours 40 minutes. Since the flight was made only once, it was not included in the rating of the longest flights.

Every day, hundreds of flights take place around the world, carrying tens of thousands of passengers. Air travel takes much less time than traveling by car or train. For example, it will take at least two weeks to cover the distance of the longest flight in the world by car.

The longest non-stop flight on the route Newark - Singapore is regularly performed by Singapore Airlines. Depending on weather conditions, the flight can take from 18 hours 40 minutes to 19 hours exactly. The Singaporean carrier first flew in 2004, and for more than 9 years now passengers have been able to cross a distance of 15,345 km in a short time, which is almost equal to the length of the Eurasian continent from west to east.

The second longest non-stop flight is the Los Angeles - Singapore route. In just over 17 hours, the airbus covers 14 thousand celestial kilometers. Regularly, 313 passengers (that's how many people can fit on board the plane) depart from the city of angels to get to the capital of ancient Chinese architecture, the city of butterflies and reptiles, 17 hours later.

In third place is the Boeing 777-200LR airliner flying from Johannesburg to Atlanta. For 16 hours and 35 minutes, the plane carries its passengers through the clouds covering the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The first such flight took place in 2009: everything went well, and the flight has since become regular. All travelers who are lucky enough to take this flight note the magnificent view of Johannesburg that opens immediately after takeoff.

Some historical facts

Airplanes began to cover such significant distances relatively recently. In 1961 it was first opened route with a distance of more than 9 thousand kilometers. The flight from Tel Aviv to New York took 9 hours 30 minutes.

In 1976, airlines managed to set a new record for the longest non-stop routes. The distance from New York to Tokyo (this is exactly what the Boeing 747 followed) was (and still is) almost 11 thousand kilometers. At the end of the same year, the famous Boeing began flying between Sydney and San Francisco, regularly covering almost 12 thousand kilometers.

Embrace the vast expanses of our country

The longest flight in Russia is a non-stop flight from Moscow to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The distance between these cities is 7 and a half thousand kilometers; modern aviation covers it in 8 hours.

The first flight on this route was made back in 1938. Pilots V.K. Kokkinaki and A.M. Bryandinsky spent more than a day in the sky to get to their destination. During this flight, the pilots managed to set a speed record in a small two-seater plane, and at the same time the whole world learned about the new shortest route from the Soviet capital to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. Both pilots, as a result, received the well-deserved titles of Heroes of the Soviet Union.

Not everyone can be a giant...

If during the longest flight passengers have to spend 17 hours in the sky, then the shortest flight takes only 4 minutes, two of which the car spends on starting the engine, taking off and braking. The plane's route runs between two small Scottish islands, and the distance between them is only a few tens of meters longer than the length of the runway. It is worth noting that only three people work at the airport where the plane lands, and the entire population of the island is 70 people.

The ticket price includes compensation for the release of burnt fuel into the atmosphere. Upon landing, all passengers on this “mini” flight receive a document with a personal signature from the captain of the aircraft stating that they have made a contribution to the environmental fund.

There are other small flights in the world. For example, a Polynesian airline takes a plane into the sky for only five minutes, and a flight between the cities of Burlington and Rochester in America takes seven minutes.

First in the world The round-the-world non-stop flight took place in 1949.

The strategic bomber of the 43rd Bombardment Group of the US Army Air Forces Boeing B-50 Superfortress with a crew of 14 people took off from Caswell Air Force Base (Fort Worth, Texas) on February 26.

The plane returned to the same airfield on March 2, covering a distance of 37,742 km in 94 hours and 1 minute. The average speed was 401 km/h. During the flight, the bomber's fuel reserves were replenished four times with the help of tanker aircraft.

First non-stop flight around the globe without refueling flown December 14–23, 1986 by Dick Rutan and Gina Eager in a Rutan Model 76 Voyager.

The aircraft, powered by two piston engines, was built by aircraft designer Burt Rutan specifically to set the record. The flight lasted 216 hours, 3 minutes and 44 seconds. In total, the aircraft covered 42,432 km with an average speed of 186.11 km/h.

On March 1–3, 2005, entrepreneur and pilot Steve Fossett set the world record on his Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer. speed record non-stop manned flight around the world without refueling.

The turbojet-powered single-seat aircraft, built by Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites company, circumnavigated the Earth in 67 hours, 1 minute and 46 seconds. The average flight speed was 590.7 km/h, the plane covered a distance of 36,912 km.

Flight duration records

First in the series high-profile Soviet records The duration of air travel was achieved by the crew of Valery Chkalov, Georgy Baidukov and Alexander Belyakov.

On July 20–22, 1936, they flew from Moscow to the Far Eastern island of Udd (now Chkalov Island, Khabarovsk Territory) on an experimental aircraft ANT-25 (chief designers - Andrei Tupolev and Pavel Sukhoi). The aircraft covered 9,374 km in 56 hours and 20 minutes.

On July 12–14, 1937, the crew of Mikhail Gromov, Andrei Yumashev and Sergei Danilin on the ANT-25 improved the achievements of their colleagues by completing a non-stop flight over a distance of 11,500 km in 62 hours and 17 minutes along the route Moscow - San Jacinto (California, USA).

Their record was broken in November 1938 when two RAF Vickers Wellesley bombers flew 11,539 km non-stop between Egypt and New Australia.

Record piloting duration aircraft with refueling was installed in 1959 in the USA.

Robert Timm and John Cook took off from McCarran Airport (Las Vegas, Nevada) on December 4, 1958 in a specially prepared Cessna 172 light aircraft. The aircraft circled the airfield non-stop for 64 days 22 hours 19 minutes 5 seconds and made a soft landing on February 5, 1959. The aircraft was refueled in the air twice a day using a fuel tanker moving around the airfield.

Record for the longest piloting an aircraft without refueling installed in 2015 during Andre Borschberg's round-the-world flight on the Solar Impulse 2 electric plane.

In the period from June 28 to July 3, on the Nagoya (Japan) - Hawaii (USA) section, Borschberg covered a distance of 7,212 km in 117 hours and 52 minutes. At the same time, he set a record for non-stop flight range for electric aircraft. The round-the-world flight itself was interrupted due to problems with the aircraft's batteries.

Longest flight record unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV) installed by the QinetiQ Zephyr 7 at the US Army Yuma Proving Ground (Arizona). The UAV stayed in the air for two weeks - 336 hours 22 minutes and 8 seconds.

Longest non-stop scheduled flights

As of June 2017, the longest non-stop flight in the world is operated by the Qatari airline Qatar Airways on the route Auckland (New Zealand) - Doha (Qatar).

"TASS/Ruptly"

The first flight was carried out on February 6, 2017. The flight uses a long-haul wide-body passenger aircraft Boeing 777-200LR. It covers the 14,524 km distance between Auckland and Doha in 17 hours 30 minutes.

The longest non-stop flight among Russian carriers is operated by Aeroflot. This is flight SU106 on the route Moscow - Los Angeles (USA) with a length of 9781 km. Long-haul wide-body aircraft Airbus A330-200 overcome it in 12 hours 50 minutes.

The airline Singapore Airlines plans to receive the ultra-long-range wide-body passenger aircraft Airbus A350-900ULR in 2018. It is expected that these machines will be used for non-stop flights from Singapore to New York (USA) over a record distance of 15,348 km.

The material was prepared according to TASS-Dossier data.